Artefacts made from skeletal materials since the Roman period were, before this book, neglected as a serious area of study. This is a comprehensive account which reviews over fifty categories of artefact. The book starts with a consideration of the formation, morphology and mechanical properties of the materials and illuminates characteristics concerning working with them. Following chapters discuss the organisation of the industry and trade in such items, including the changing status of the industry over time. Archaeological evidence is combined with that from historical and ethnological sources, with many illustrations providing key visual reference. Originally published in 1985.

In the pre-plastic era everything was made from natural materials, often by skilled craftsmen. The materials that they used are now often rare and easily misidentified. Are they made from bone, ivory, horn, tortoiseshell shell, skin or scales, or some other now forgotten exotic material? This technical book will help collectors, antique dealers, museum conservationists, and frequenters of flea markets to know more about the vast array of those artifacts, their biology, rarity, value, and how to conserve and restore them. Included in this comprehensive guide are hundreds of images of actual collectibles ranging from knives to buttons.

Artefacts made from skeletal materials since the Roman period were, before this book, neglected as a serious area of study. This is a comprehensive account which reviews over fifty categories of artefact. The book starts with a consideration of the formation, morphology and mechanical properties of the materials and illuminates characteristics concerning working with them. Following chapters discuss the organisation of the industry and trade in such items, including the changing status of the industry over time. Archaeological evidence is combined with that from historical and ethnological sources, with many illustrations providing key visual reference. Originally published in 1985.

This volume presents the surviving evidence for the manufacture and use of leather artefacts at York during the Anglo-Scandinavian and medieval periods. Based around the internationally important group of Anglo-Scandinavian leatherwork from 16-22 Coppergate, it also includes material recovered from other sites in the city. Over 5,000 items of leather dating from the later 9th century through to the 15th century are represented, some 550 of which are fully catalogued. T he recovery of large quantities of manufacturing debris at Coppergate suggests that leatherworking was undertaken there in both the Anglo-Scandinavian and the medieval periods. Shoe making was at its height in the 10th century; cobbling was also being undertaken at this time and continued throughout the medieval period. There is evidence for the refurbishment of knife sheaths in the Anglo-Scandinavian period, a phenomenon not previously recognised elsewhere. The leather items themselves are described in detail. These include shoes, knife sheaths, sword scabbards, straps, purses, elliptical panels, balls and an archer's wrist guard. Shoes represent the largest category of manufactured leather recovered.A small number of shoes made from a single piece of leather were found in Anglo-Scandinavian deposits, but the vast majority of the shoes from both Anglo-Scandinavian and medieval contexts were of turnshoe construction. A significant corpus of knife and seax sheaths and sword scabbards was recovered. Future researchers will be able to use the York leather assemblage presented here to re-examine current issues and develop new hypotheses, continuing to move forward the study of the leather industry and to elucidate the complexities of post-Roman economy and society.

From 1989 to 1994 more than fifteen hundred bone and ivory objects were excavated from the northeast slope of Rome's Palatine Hill. These remains constitute the largest such find in the western Mediterranean and the first traces of the actual working of ivory in Rome itself. In this original work, art historian Archer St. Clair explores the significance of these finds in understanding both the development of artisanship in Rome and the broader Greco-Roman cultural and artistic tradition to which they belong. Dating primarily from the first through the fifth century C.E., the carved objects include ornamentation for furniture and boxes in the form of plaques and framing strips, jewelry, dolls, a wide variety of pins, as well as smaller numbers of handles, needles, and other implements. Also present at the site was extensive evidence of a bone and ivory workshop, including prepared blanks and waste fragments that provide valuable evidence for artisanal practices in both materials. This volume includes a representative catalog of 648 objects from Palatine East, extensively illustrated with photographs and detailed drawings. Four chapters of introductory material offer a comprehensive overview of the material properties of bone and ivory, the literary evidence, and wider context of their use in the ancient world, and the particular significance of the Palatine East site. While bone has often been treated simply as an inferior and less valuable alternative to ivory, St. Clair notes the close association in their use and elucidates a complex relationship between them. In doing so, she offers a detailed, contextual study of the uses, social perception, and distribution of the two materials, revealing a shared Mediterranean vocabulary of form and technique.

Return to the world of Widdershins and The Onion Girl in this collection of Newford tales

In parts of Korea and China, moon bears, black but for the crescent-shaped patch of white on their chests, are captured in the wild and brought to "bear farms" where they are imprisoned in squeeze cages, and a steel catheter is inserted into their gall bladders. The dripping bile is collected as a cure for ailments ranging from an upset stomach to skin burns. The bear may live as long as fifteen years in this state. Rhinos are being illegally poached for their horns, as are tigers for their bones, thought to improve virility. Booming economies and growing wealth in parts of Asia are increasing demand for these precious medicinals. Already endangered species are being sacrificed for temporary treatments for nausea and erectile dysfunction. Richard Ellis, one of the world's foremost experts in wildlife extinction, brings his alarm to the pages of Tiger Bone & Rhino Horn, in the hope that through an exposure of this drug trade, something can be done to save the animals most direly threatened. Trade in animal parts for traditional Chinese medicine is a leading cause of species endangerment in Asia, and poaching is increasing at an alarming rate. Most of traditional Chinese medicine relies on herbs and other plants, and is not a cause for concern. Ellis illuminates those aspects of traditional medicine, but as wildlife habitats are shrinking for the hunted large species, the situation is becoming ever more critical. One hundred years ago, there were probably 100,000 tigers in India, South China, Sumatra, Bali, Java, and the Russian Far East. The South Chinese, Caspian, Balinese, and Javan species are extinct. There are now fewer than 5,000 tigers in all of India, and the numbers are dropping fast. There are five species of rhinoceros--three in Asia and two in Africa--and all have been hunted to near extinction so their horns can be ground into powder, not for aphrodisiacs, as commonly thought, but for ailments ranging from arthritis to depression. In 1930, there were 80,000 black rhinos in Africa. Now there are fewer than 2,500. Tigers, bears, and rhinos are not the only animals pursued for the sake of alleviating human ills--the list includes musk deer, sharks, saiga antelope, seahorses, porcupines, monkeys, beavers, and sea lions--but the dwindling numbers of those rare species call us to attention. Ellis tells us what has been done successfully, and contemplates what can and must be done to save these animals or, sadly, our children will witness the extinction of tigers, rhinos, and moon bears in their lifetime.

“The Grail Bird is an enjoyable read . . . A powerful call for conservation, and an exciting bird adventure” (The Boston Globe). What is it about the ivory-billed woodpecker? Why does this ghost of the southern swamps arouse such an obsessive level of passion in its devotees, who range from respected researchers to the flakiest Loch Ness monster fanatics and Elvis chasers? Since the early twentieth century, scientists have been trying their best to prove that the ivory-bill is extinct. But every time they think they’ve finally closed the door, the bird makes an unexpected appearance. To unravel the mystery, author Tim Gallagher heads south, deep into the eerie swamps and bayous of the vast Mississippi Delta, searching for people who claim to have seen this rarest of birds and following up—sometimes more than thirty years after the fact—on their sightings. What follows is his own Eureka moment with his buddy Bobby Harrison, a true son of the South from Alabama. A huge woodpecker flies in front of their canoe, and they both cry out, “Ivory-bill!” This sighting—the first time since 1944 that two qualified observers positively identify an ivory-billed woodpecker in the United States—quickly leads to the largest search ever launched to find a rare bird, as researchers fan out across the bayou, hoping to document the existence of this most iconic of birds. “The Grail Bird is less an ecological study than a portrait of human obsession.” —The New York Times

“[A] tour de force examination of the history of ivory . . . and the demise of the elephant and human decency in the process of this unholy quest.” —The Huffington Post Praised for the nuance and sensitivity with which it approaches one of the most fraught conservation issues we face today, John Frederick Walker’s Ivory’s Ghosts tells the astonishing story of the power of ivory through the ages, and its impact on elephants. Long before gold and gemstones held allure, ivory came to be prized in every culture of the world—from ancient Egypt to nineteenth-century America to modern Japan—for its beauty, rarity, and ability to be finely carved. But the beauty came at an unfathomable cost. Walker lays bare the ivory trade’s cruel connection with the slave trade and the increasing slaughter of elephants in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. By the 1980s, elephant poaching reached levels that threatened the last great herds of the African continent, and led to a worldwide ban on the ancient international trade in tusks. But the ban has failed to stop poaching—or the emotional debate over what to do with the legitimate and growing stockpiles of ivory recovered from elephants that die of natural causes. “Ivory’s Ghost is essential reading for anyone concerned with conservation and with the tenuous future of one of the most magnificent creatures our earth has ever seen.” —George B. Schaller, author of A Naturalist and Other Beast

Several years ago, Christian Huxley's father, George, obsessively documented the strange phenomena emanating from Ryhope Wood at the edge of their property. He watched the ancient heroes emerge, shouting both incomprehensible warnings and unmistakable invitations. Recklessly, George followed them inot the mysterious sylvan shadows that changed him forever. Christian himself was not untouched by these living dreams. A childhood encounter with a phantom from another time draws him to the Wood as an adult. Deep in Ryhope, Christian uncovers the lie that permeates his worst nightmares. And like his father, he will be consumed with the mythagoes of Ryhope, especially a young Celtic warrior called Guiwenneth. She is the key to the mystery of the universe, an ancient heroine caught in a timeless tale of bravery and sacrifice. Now, together with a band of crusaders from a world long gone, Christian and Guiwenneth become part of the unfolding stories both remembered and forgotten. They meet sorcerers in battle and giants who can travel miles in one step. And they discover the meaning of the two gates, Ivory and Horn - one the lie, the other the truth.